The Climbing-Net Sky Investigation

A Year Beside the Climbing Net

Ms. Chen’s fifth graders investigated the sky from a marked observation spot beside the playground’s climbing net. The spot was outside the play area and had an open view. The class collected three sets of observations: shadows during one clear day, daylight during the year, and stars during evening visits. Families and the teacher supervised the evening visits.

Step 1: An adult secured a straight, 60-centimeter post upright on level ground. Students used the same post, ruler, and ground spot all day. At five times, they measured from the post’s base to the shadow’s tip. They also used a compass to record the direction from the base toward the tip. Time changed; the post’s height and position stayed the same.

Shadow results:
9:00 a.m. — 100 cm, northwest
10:30 a.m. — 60 cm, northwest
12:00 noon — 40 cm, north
1:30 p.m. — 60 cm, northeast
3:00 p.m. — 100 cm, northeast

Step 2: On one selected date in each of four months, the class used local sunrise and sunset records to find the hours of daylight. Each complete day lasted 24 hours, including daylight and nighttime. Students displayed these results in the daylight graph in Section 2. The bars describe the selected dates, not every date in each month.

Step 3: The class chose six clear nights spread through each listed month. At 9:00 p.m., observers stood at the same marked spot and used the same star charts. They checked for two recognizable star patterns, labeled A and B on their charts. They counted a pattern only when its full shape was visible above the horizon. Nearby lights were off during every visit.

Star results — nights seen out of six clear nights:
January: A = 6; B = 0
April: A = 3; B = 0
July: A = 0; B = 6
October: A = 0; B = 3

The students compared observations made under similar conditions. They looked for patterns before making predictions. They knew that one year of observations could suggest what to expect next year, but could not guarantee the result of every future visit.